Sad For India: French Redditor Shares Experience Of Being Harassed In India For Muslim Sounding Name

Snigdha Nalini Oreya

“What’s in a name?,” you might ask. Well if your name sounds a certain way, it definitely can grab a lot of attention, and in today’s day and age, it’s sadly, not always the right kind of attention. 

Recently, a Redditor posted about their experience while travelling in India.

The Redditor, who hails from France originally, narrated their experience. They fell “literally in love with this country (India) in every way possible.” India with its beauty behind the chaos, the culture, the food, and the people made its way to this French redditor’s heart.

However, one thing happened which bothered them. Apparently, the Redditor was born in France but has their roots in Lebanon. As a result of which, they have an Arabic sounding name. The person clarifies how he is a Catholic and his name is a “Christian- Arabic” name.
The redditor noted how their name caused people to have assumptions.

“My name caused some people’s angriness in India, because of assumptions made over it.”

This thread brought to light a heartbreaking reality in the county. Many others chimed in and talked about the state of affairs in the country.

“If having a Muslim-sounding name made people angry, imagine what would’ve happened if you were actually Muslim…” – Reigen441

“I am absolutely shocked on how difficult it is for Muslim families to rent an apartment in a “metropolitan” city, like Delhi or Mumbai. One look at the name, and there will be zero interest! In many ways, such attitudes have led to the emergence of Muslim ghettos in Delhi, and elsewhere in India.” – bannedbutstillhere

“You don’t need to justify every second you enjoyed it here.. Be bold and tell it to our faces that our country is not in the right place RN and it should be fixed. Anyways, thanks for the visit. We will try to fix it, however we can.” – darkgamera6

“Muslims in India have been socially, economically, and politically isolated. They don’t have the right anymore to participate in the larger society, or they are made to feel unsafe while doing so. This has been going on for a very long time now but has accelerated recently. Due to this, their community which was already one of the poorest and most downtrodden in India will become even more poor and helpless in the future.” – ta201608

“You have a good point. India used to have a bit more love for others than now. Kindness is almost gone around my area and I can’t really blame them. In my area, there are slums less than sanitary areas that have not so great living conditions. And you get used to it after a long time.” – Low_Kaleidoscope_334

“Sadly, the recent politics have turned super anti-Muslim. Deeply saddened.” – thisIsCleanChiiled

“Thank you for your visit. We are hopeful things will change, but it looks like things will get worse before they get better.” – Crocbro_8DN

While others wanted to know which parts of the country the French tourist had visited.

“Which cities did you visit, if you don’t mind me asking?” – the_recovery1

“For information purposes, what places you have visited and where did you find people more racist or something?” – mrAnmol

One user perfectly summed up the state of affairs.

“Thanks for sharing your experience! It’s sad about this polarisation plaguing our everyday. It’s always been there since independence and has gotten only worse since then. Despite the people, themselves, having big hearts (across religions and regions), an increasing number warms up only for their “kind”. But thankfully, we still have optimists and kind people who see beyond these lines!” – cynicducky

They also shared a very important piece of advice, less of advice but more of a sane reminder. You can read their entire experience here, and the advice they shared.

We can only hope and pray that things change for the better soon.

You might also like
100+ Short Halloween Quotes to Get You in the Halloween Spirit!
Get Tongue-Twisted with These 100 English Tongue Twisters: A Fun and Challenging Twist on your tongue
Get Ready to Twist Your Tongue with 100 Hilarious Funny Tongue Twisters!
40 Movies Similar to Fight Club That Will Blow Your Mind
Discover 15 Movies Like My Fault to Add to Your Watchlist
15 Uplifting Movies Like 12th Fail You Shouldn’t Miss